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Adriatic and Ionian Council meeting: Amb. Caracciolo confirms CEI readiness to contribute to EUSAIR implementation

CEI Secretary General Amb. Giovanni Caracciolo di Vietri took part in the XVII Meeting of the Adriatic and Ionian Council, held in Brussels on 13 May 2014. Under the auspices of the Chairmanship-in-Office of the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative (AII), represented by H.E. Ditmir Bushati, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania, delegations from all AII Member States, the European Commission (DG for Enlargement, DG for Regional and Urban Policy, DG for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries) and four Regional Organisations (CEI, CBSS, BSEC, RCC) attended the gathering.
 
Amb. Caracciolo confirmed the CEI’s interest in the EU Strategy for the Adriatic Ionian Region (EUSAIR), and readiness to mobilise the CEI’s project and fund management expertise for its successful implementation, once the EU Council would officially endorse the EUSAIR Action Plan during the Italian Presidency semester.
 
AII Member States highlighted the prominence of regional cooperation in their respective foreign policies and the importance of the EUSAIR as a decisive cohesion factor in the Adriatic and Ionian macro-region.

Sen. Benedetto Della Vedova, Italian Under-Secretary of State, announced that Italy would organise a EUSAIR Kick-Off event in the second half of 2014. He also stressed that, since macro-regional strategies are a “place/territory-based” cooperation process, the involvement of civil societies would be crucial in order to implement effectively the provisions included in the forthcoming EUSAIR Action Plan.
 
All delegations shared a common stand and a strong commitment towards the EUSAIR, clearly expressed in a joint "Brussels Declaration" and welcomed Bosnia and Herzegovina as incoming AII Chairmanship as of 1 June 2014.
 
For more information: www.aii-ps.org

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